🚔 Jury convicts Sykia Harper-Brown on weapons and terroristic threats charges tied to a volatile confrontation

🔫 Prosecutors say she arrived armed with a 9mm and a bat, then fired a shot into the air after making threats

⚖️ Up to 25 years in prison possible as the judge revoked her release ahead of sentencing


A flame war on Facebook escalated into real-life gunfire in South Jersey.

A Gloucester County jury recently found Sykia Harper-Brown guilty of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and third-degree terroristic threats.

The conviction caps a case in which prosecutors said the 43-year-old Philadelphia woman had put lives in danger.

Armed confrontation sparks terror in Gloucester County

Prosecutors said Harper-Brown traveled from Pennsylvania to Monroe Township in Gloucester County on Nov. 4, 2023, armed with a 9mm handgun and a baseball bat after exchanging heated text messages and Facebook threats with her sister-in-law.

Prosecutors told jurors that Harper-Brown went to the victim’s home, banged on the door and demanded she come outside. As tensions escalated, the victim’s fiancé called 911.

Gunfire erupts outside family home

Rather than leaving quietly, Harper-Brown retreated to the sidewalk and fired the handgun into the air, authorities said. Officers later recovered a shell casing near the scene, corroborating witness accounts and 911 audio presented at trial.

Judge revokes release as sentencing looms

Following the guilty verdicts, a Superior Court judge sitting in Woodbury revoked Harper-Brown’s release and ordered her into custody as she awaits sentencing on Feb. 27, 2026. She faces up to 10 years in state prison on each weapons charge and up to five years for terroristic threats.

“This verdict affirms that threats and intimidation that place others in fear will be met with serious consequences,” Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew B. Johns said, crediting investigators and Monroe Township police for their work.

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